Refrigeration



Oct. 29,r 1940. G. M; BLQMQVISTv ET Al. 2,219,439

' REFRIGERATION Filed Jan. 1s, 193s uklm"""""""""" 11ml Il I INVENTQRS Mmm 052m BY 5m fm T I molv/LWTTORNEY,

Patented oct. 29, 1940 t 2,219,439

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,219,439 REFBIGERATION Gustav Marten Blomqvist and Sture Folke Torstensson, Stockholm, Sweden, assignors, by mesne assignments, to Servei, Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Application January 13, 1938, Serial No. 184,760 3 Claims. (Cl. 621) This invention relates to refrigeration, and element, whereby ice isfformed in the tray. To it is an object to provide an improved tool to remove tray I2 from the freezing compartment facilitate the removal of ice or other frozen II, the tapered end 2| of the tool I'I may be inmatter from a shallow tray adapted for use in serted between the tray bottom and shelf 22 to household refrigerators. break the ice bond that may be formed between p The above and other objects and advantages the tray bottom and shelf. of the invention will be better understood from The tray I2 is partly withdrawn from the l the following description'taken in conjunction freezing compartment II and the tool positioned with the accompanying drawing forming a part transversely of the tray with the arm I9 disof this specification, and of which: posed above the top of the tray and arm 20 i Fig. l illustrates a tool embodying the invendisposed across the bottom of the tray. The tion which is disposed about a shallow ice tray handle I8 is then pressed downward whereby partly withdrawn from a freezing compartment the tray is first tilted slightly until the flange of a cooling element; I4 of one longitudinal side wall bears against Fig. 2 is a view taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1 to the top horizontal wall 23 of the freezing comillustrate more clearly the relative positions of partment and the bottom edge of the opposite the cooling element,4 tray, and tool; and longitudinal side wall bears against the bottom Fig. 3 is a side elevation of a tray partly withhorizontal wall or shelf 22. With continued drawn from a cooling element and having the downward pressing on handle I8 after the rear 2@ tool in a different position about the tray. portion of the'tray becomes wedged or locked Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, an evaporator or in the freezing compartment, sufficient deformacooling element l0 of a household refrigerator tion of the tray is brought about tov break the is refrigerated in any suitable manner. The ice bond and loosen the ice cubes or frozen cooling element I0 is provided with a plurality matter from the tray.

of ice freezing compartments il which are Instead of positioning the tool Il transversely I adapted to receive shallow ice trays I2 having of the withdrawn portion of the tray i2, the a resilient bottom and side walls. tool i1 may be positioned longitudinally of the The tray I2 may be formed of suitable metal, withdrawn front part of the tray with the arms such as aluminum or stainless steel, for example, I9 and 20 extending rearwardly from the front Sil and about the upper edges of the side walls is end wall of the tray. When the handle 20 is f provided an outwardly extending flange ifi. The pressed downward the tray is tilted slightly flange at one end wall may extend downward, until the flange lll of the rear end wall bears as indicated at I5, to provide a finger grip for against the top horizontal-wall 23 and an interthe tray. Within the ice tray I2 is positioned mediate portion of the tray bottom bears against a removable grid member i6 which may have the forward edge of shelf 22. With the tray l2 a longitudinal dividing wall and spaced transwedged or locked in position in the freezing verse dividing walls vto form ice cube compart- Compartment 0r Support H, Continued downments. ward pressing on handle I8 causes sufficient de- In accordance with the `invention a too1 l1 is formation of the tray to loosen the ice cubes or l, provided to facilitate the removal of ice or other fIOZen matter IOm the tray. frozen matter from tray I2. The tool I1 com- In Order to resist corrosion, the tool, I1 may prises a handle portion I8 and forked parallel be formed of stainless steel or steel which is arms I9 and 20 which are spaced apart, a dis., chromium-plated. If desired, the arms I9 and tance slightly greater than the depth of the 20 may be covered with rubber tubing to protect tray. The outer end 2| of handle I8 is preferthe DOltOhS 0f the tray vagainst Which they t ably tapered or pointed. Referring to Fig. 2, bear when the tool is being used to facilitate it will be seen that when the arm I9 is directly the loosening of frozen matter. above the arm 20 the handle portion I8 is in the Although a particular embodiment of the in- Same vertical plane aS the arms I9 and 20- vention has been shown and described, it will In using the t001 just described, the tray I2 is be apparent that various modifications and y filled with'water or other matter to be frozen changes may be made without departing from and inserted in the freezing compartment 0r the spirit and scope of the invention,4 as pointed support II. With tray/ I2 positioned on shelf out; in the fonowing claims, 22, heat is removed through the bottom of the what is @aimed is; v tray,due tothe production of cold by the cooling' 1.*The combination with a shallow ice tray er? for use with household refrigerators and adapted to contain matter to be frozen in a freezing unit, said tray being formed of sheet metal, of an independent device including a part having a tapered end portion which may be inserted between the tray bottom and shelf of the freezing unit upon which it rests to break the ice bond which may be formed therebetween, and said device having additional parts adapted to grip diiferent regions of said tray whereby said tray can be distorted by said first-mentioned part to break the bond of the frozen matter and facilitate the removal of the frozen matter from said tray.

2. The combination with a shallow tray for use with household refrigerators and adapted to contain matter to be frozen therein, and a support in which a part of said tray may be positioned, of a device including a handle and members adapted to be positioned about and embrace another part of said tray, and said device being constructed and arranged so that with movement thereof by said handle said members are capable of exerting force on said tray while it is wedged and locked in said support to cause suicient deformation of said tray to break the bond with the frozen matter and facilitate the removal of the frozen matter from said tray, said handle having a tapered end porhaving a tapered end tion which may be inserted between the tray bottom and support upon which it rests to break the ice bond which may be formed therebetween. v

3. The combination with a shallow ice tray for use with household refrigerators and adapted to contain matter to be frozen in a compartment of a freezing unit, said tray being formed of sheet metal, of an independent device including a handle and a pair of arms spaced apart j substantially the same distance as the depth of said tray, and said arms being adapted to embrace a forward part of said tray while said tray is partly withdrawn from said compartment, and said device when turned by said handle being capable of wedging said tray in said compartment and distorting said tray to break the ice bond with the frozen matter and facilitate the removal of the frozen matter from said tray, said handle being substantially in the same vertical plane as said arms when one arm is directly above the other, and said handle serted between the tray bottom and shelf of the freezing unit upon which it rests to Ibreak the 2l ice bond which may be formed therebetween.

GUSTAV MRTEN BLOMQVIST. STURE FOLKE TORSTENSSON.

portion which maybe in- 

